0
skydiverek

PIA meetings (prior to the Symposium) - worth attending?

Recommended Posts

Hi there,

I am planning to attend the PIA Symposium (I am not a PIA member, just a regular jumper). I found the schedule on their website (http://www.pia.com/symposium2005/general.htm). Basically, the Symposium runs Jan. 14th - Jan 18th, but there are also PIA Meetings (open to all) Jan. 11th - 13th.

Here are my questions:

1.)I was just wondering if it is worth attending those PIA Meetings, considering that I am a weekend jumper who just wants to learn new stuff. I will be renting car and staying at the hotel there so each day costs, so I was just wondering if I should come for PIA meetings and Symposium or just the Symposium. Are PIA meetings kind of dry and offficial with policies, agendas, minutes and motions, or can it be of interest to curious weekend jumper (I am very hungry for any gear/safety knowledge)?

2.) I found the list of different committees for PIA meetings here http://www.pia.com/committees.htm and Rigging, Technical, and Parachute Certification Standards, and Risk Management and cought my eye. Again, what goes on during these particular meetings, what is covered, what do they include, what can one learn???

Any ideas from someone who attended both parts (PIA meetings and Symposium)?

3) Moreover, I found out that there will be Specification committee meeting on Jan 10th, and DPRE meeting on Jan 19th. Any details what goes on during these ones?

Basically, I am trying to find out what I can benefit from attending these PIA meetings Jan 10-13th and Jan 19th.

Thanks and Blue Skies!

Bart

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Hi Bart,

I'm Chairman of the PIA Rigging Committee, Co-chair of the Parachute Certification Standards Committee (PCSC), and a member of the Technical, Membership, and Symposium committees and Speaker Coordinator for the Symposium. So I think I can answer your questions.

1. The PIA business meetings consist of meetings of the whole membership in attendance each morning in whats called a Plenary session. At these we take care of attendance, setting the agenda, minutes, treasurers reports, future meeting decisions etc. The second and third days will include committee reports and budget requests, any motions by committees to change SOP's or other documents, etc. This meeting there will be elections on Sunday but I'm not sure which slots are up. Many are two year terms. Then we break up for a schedule of committee meetings for the rest of the first two days. We usually have three different meetings going on at once.

2. The Rigging Committee has a couple of projects going on but mainly we discuss issues concerning rigging that have come up through the year. The Technical committee has more formal projects like developing new volume testing methods, standard nomenclature for harness/containers etc. We also have briefings of signifcant events. We've had three briefings from Capewell concerning the pin problem and had a briefing from Sunpath concerning the two harness failures. Parachute Certifications Standards Comm. has just finished rewriting the technical document the the TSO approval of reserve parachutes and harnesses is based on. We expect it to be adopted in place of AS 8015 and become TSO C23e. We won't have much work at this meeting but this committee has usually met for many hours each meeting. The Risk management committee is focused on Business risk, not skydiver safety, and deals with things like warning labels, waviers, etc.

3. The Specifications Committee is another PIA committee that is composed of the manufacturers of basic materials. PIA is now rewriting and publishing specifications for Broard fabrics, narrow fabrics, and hardware. These are replacing the military specifications i.e. MIL SPEC XXXX fabric that have been abandoned by the government. This committee is meeting early because they have lots of work to do reviewing blue prints and test specifications for the various materials. This is really of interest only to those manufacturers and as involved as I am I've never attended a committee meeting. (usually I have others to go to.)

The DPRE meeting is not open to the public. This is a meeting for Designated Parachute Rigger Examiners to meet the meeting and training requirement with the FAA.

Now, how I'd get involved. I got involved because I was a part time rigger, apprenticed trained, and needed to continue to learn more. I attended the last Parachute Riggers Conference at the Nationals in Muskogee (sp?) OK in 1989. There I ment Bill Booth, John Sherman, Sandy Reid, etc. etc. PIA changed to the symposium after that with the exhibition and expanded speaker program. I've attended everyone except 1995. I also joined PIA as a non voting member in 1989. As I attended the symposiums and showed up early for the PIA meetings I got more and more involved. And I learned more and more. To the point now where I, a part time rigger who doesn't make his living from the industry, had a significant part in the PCSC rewriting the TSO.

So your welcome to attend. In the meetings will be owners of many of the major manufacturing companies as well as others you may have heard of. Bill Booth, Ted Strong, John Sherman, Sandy Reid, Bill Coe, George Galloway, Pat Thomas, Kelly Farrington, Dave DeWolf, etc. etc. FAA reps will be there as well as people from the European regulatory agency. Getting to know some of these folks and realizing that many are skydivers who couldn't get a real job (;) IT'S a JOKE! kind of B|) is interesting.

If your not interested in the technical aspects of parachutes or rigging, and just want to be a knowledgable skydiver it may not be worth the extra 5 or 6 hundred dollars. If you want to meet some folks and see how some of the stuff above happens then it probably is worth showing up on Tue.
I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Terry,

Thank you so much for such a thorough answer :)
1.) Do you have any example topics for a Rigging committee meetings?

2.) Is the "Riggers Continued Education" I saw on the registration form same as the "DPRE Meeting" you mentioned?

3.) Is the DPRE meeting closed to even fully registered non-members ($195 fee I paid)?

4.) Any idea when the particular committees will meet (I could not find the date and time schedule on the website)?

5.) Is the Specification Committee meeting the only event on Jan 10th?

6.) Is Specification Committee open to all?

7.) And finally, is the DPRE meeting the only event on Jan 19th?

Thanks a lot! Going to Florida is a major trip for me, so I just wanted to be sure what will be going on there B|.

Bart

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Terry,

Thank you so much for such a thorough answer :)
1.) Do you have any example topics for a Rigging committee meetings?

Quote

Jumper landing in water and continuing to jump and the effect. Vacuum packing rigs and the possible effect on the cypres. Recommended rigger certification qualifications as examples for countries without. Continuing arguments about resealing someone elses pack job and packing a cypres that will go out of date during the pack job.



2.) Is the "Riggers Continued Education" I saw on the registration form same as the "DPRE Meeting" you mentioned?
Quote

No. The Rigger Continuing Education is a program run by PIA during the symposium. Riggers who sign up and attend a minimum of 10 hours of rigging or technical presentation receive a Certificate from PIA and the FAA acknowledging their commitment to continuing education. Nothing to do with the DPRE meeting.



3.) Any idea when the particular committees will meet (I could not find the date and time schedule on the website)?

Quote

This schedule will be posted probably in December and is subject to change during the meeting.




4.) Is the Specification Committee meeting the only event on Jan 10th?
Quote

Yes, its a work session for them because they need more time than available during the normal 3 days. They often meet at other times of the year also.




5.) Is Specification Committee open to all?
Quote

All PIA meetings are open to the public with one exception. When we are voting on new members it is closed to all but voting members. But you really don't want to hear two hardware manufacturers discussing the detail of a blue print do you?


6.) And finally, is the DPRE meeting the only event on Jan 19th?
Quote

http://www.pia.com/symposium2005/download/ScheduleofEvents.pdf The DPRE is the 13th. There are no events on the 19th. And the DPRE is not open to the public. It is a colocated event and not part of the PIA symposium. Just as the USPA BOD meeting is a colocated event and not part of the PIA Symposium.



Thanks a lot! Going to Florida is a major trip for me, so I just wanted to be sure what will be going on there B|.

Quote



There also is a Glock Sport Shooting Federation competition in Jacksonville that weekend.;) http://www.gssfonline.com/




Bart


I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Thanks again Terry for claryfying :).

Quote

There are no events on the 19th.


I am glad that you clarified. I asked since the Parachutist magazine advertises the PIA events as running from Jan 10th thru 19th, so I was not sure. I called the PIA and someone told me there is some DPRE training by FAA on 19th, but I quess they must have been wrong :S.

So I understand that the boring ;) "Specification Committee" is the only event on 10th, and nothing takes place on 19th, right?

Thanks again and Blue Skies!

Bart

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0